In Case You Missed it

New reading list

And another reading list

Brody turned one and a half

One piece swimsuits



Another round of Blogger's Recipe Roundup featuring Whisk: a food blog, Kevin & Amanda's Recipes, Redhead Recipes, Three Men and a Lady and Julie's Food Love

Take out book

Travis cut his hair



Reviewed Shirley J Universal Sauce

Found some cute cardigans



My first blog swap with Making the World Cuter

Found cute flats from ZooShoo

New blogs I love featuring Kendi Everyday, Lavender & Lilies, These Creative Juices and Project Domestication

My list of 30 things to do

Tomorrow I will be kicking off a week of giveaways for Father's day!

The giveaways will be perfect gifts to give your husband, your dad or even keep for yourself.

So make sure to come by here tomorrow.

It's Just Another Stylin' Sunday

The Big Three Oh!

Tomorrow is my thirtieth birthday.
30 wow!
I think that is suppose to make me feel old. It doesn't.

Here is my list of 30 things to do before I turn 31

1) Read 20 + books

2) Learn the basics of illustrator

3) Get a blog makeover

4) Try 6 new restaurants

5) Sew Travis and Brody ties

6) Learn about digital scrapbooking

7) Take a family picture

8) Try the one hundred push ups plan
Key word is try.

9) Learn to make gnocchi from scratch

10) Complete 12+ crafts projects
I can't tell you you how many unfinished projects I have in my house. 12 shouldn't be too hard, that's one a month.

11) Bake bread from scratch

12) Run 4 consecutive miles on the treadmill
A few years ago I was really into running and would run about 6 miles a few times a week. I am going to aim for 4 miles just to be safe.

13) Learn how to decorate cookies using royal frosting

14) Take Brody to Wheeler Farm

15) Buy a laptop

16) Register Brody for pre school
Oh wow! Can my baby really be old enough to get registered for pre school?

17) Make Brody' s Halloween costume

18) Finish my wedding scrap book
My 5 year wedding anniversary is less than a month away, it's about time I finish this.

19) Take a trip to San Francisco

20) Sell our condo

21) Learn the alphabet in sign language
I learned it when I was a kid but I only remember about half of it now.

22) Try a kettle bell workout

23) Get my wedding ring professionally cleaned

24) Go on a Disneyland trip

25) Drive across a suspension bridge
OK this one is really for Travis.

26) Look at the stars with Travis

27) Get a massage

28) Make homemade ice cream
I just love homemade vanilla ice cream.

29) get CPR certified

30) Start reading the bible
When I say start I mean read at the very least 5 books in the old testament.

Blogs I am Loving

Casual Blogger Conference

The Casual Blogger Conference kicks off tomorrow night with the girls night out with Teressa Collins. Are you going? I am!

If you see me there come introduce yourself. I would love to meet you!

Reading list

I finished reading



and



I am currently reading



I am going to read



I loved The boy in the Striped Pajamas by the way. Have you read it?

What are you reading right now? Any suggestions for me?

ZooShoo Flats

I am loving these cute flats from ZooShoo!
Each pair for under $16 can you believe it?



1) Soda Goalie
2) Soda Moby
3) Soda Ozone
4) Bamboo Scoot



What are your favorite style of shoes?

Shirley J Winner

The winner of the Universal Sauce from Shirley J is

Holly from Zucchero, Zucchero

Congratulations!

Email me your full name and address.

For those that didn't win you can order your Universal Sauce and other Shirley J products here. Don't forget to check out all of their yummy recipes.

Check out Shirley J on Good Things Utah today for more great recipes.

It's Just Another Stylin' Sunday

Giveaway

Only a few more days to enter to win a 48 oz bag of Universal Sauce from Shirley J.

Enter here.

Blog Swap- Making the World Cuter

Today is my first blog swap. I am swapping blogs with Tiff of Making the World Cuter.
Come say hi.
Make sure to stop by her blog and check out all the cute crafts and tutorials there. Those of you stopping by from Tiff's blog I'm glad to have you here. Make sure to sign up for the current giveaway while your here.


Hi everyone! I am excited to be over here on Dee Dee's blog-she is so cute!

Let me introduce myself...my name is Tiffany, you can call me Tiff...I have 3 insanely cute kids that make my world cuter, and me and my adorable husband are expecting another little boy this fall. This picture cracks me up with my two boys being so darn serious! :)

I blog over here at Making the World Cuter. I am on a mission to make the world cuter, one kid, cupcake or crafty thing at a time! I hope you come over and say hi!I also love photography and have a little photography blog called Pumpernickel Buttons. I seem to getting lots of newborns lately, which is great for me to ease my baby hunger until my new little guy makes his appearance!
Here are a couple random things about me...

• My favorite food is the sandwich-yummy deli style sandwiches are the best, but I love just about anything between two pieces of bread!
  
• I'm a student right now, studying web design-but my true passion is photography and Photo Shop so I will probably get my bachelors in Photography when I'm done with this degree.
• If I wasn't pregnant I would be eating a spoonful of cookie dough while typing this, it really is a wonder that I don't weigh 1000 pounds.
  
• My favorite TV shows are Modern Family, Glee and Lost (although I am glad that it is ending soon!) We watch all of our TV on Hulu because we don't have TV, and never have since we've been married. We have a couple TV's but they are just for movies-which we have more of than your local video store thanks to my hubbys addiction!
  

I love to do anything and everything creative, especially if I can do it with things I already have on hand. Here are a few of my favorite projects I have put together...

This wooden tiled mirror...
I like to do furniture makeovers, this glider is my favorite-it was so hideous before!
I generally do easy and cheap projects (and no I am not either of those things-just ask my hubby), like this burlap wreath with fabric scraps and salt dough buttons.

One of my favorite things to make are napkin rings, here are a couple I have made that I really like, and they were practically free! The first ones are made out of a tinfoil tube and the second out of felt.

This is one of my favorite projects-easy towel ponchos, I made this one for my boy while it was still winter, thus the footie jammies and the bed head! :) These are great as bath towels, but even better for the pool or the beach, with a pocket to keep their sunscreen, goggles or seashell treasures in all while keeping their hands free. LOVE these! I love meeting new blog friends and I have a linky party on Mondays as well, I really hope you come by for a visit!

Thanks for having me Dee Dee, it's been a real treat getting to know you a little better through this bloggy world! :)

-Tiff

More Calendar Blocks

Look what Christine from Christine & Co. sent me a picture of.
Her cute calendar blocks she made from my calendar blocks tutorial.

She did a great job. They look really cute!

Hot Dog Vending Machine

How cool is this hot dog vending machine?
I wish I had one of these in my house. I really don't eat hot dogs all that much but I am sure I would if I had my own hot dog vending machine. What about those nights when you really don't feel like cooking. Hot dogs anyone?

Would you eat a hot dog from a vending machine?

Dream Kitchen

Picture via

I love to cook but in my teeny tiny kitchen it's hard.
I have been dreaming about a big kitchen, with a large island right in the middle. I have always loved kitchens with islands, complete with bar stools.

I love sitting on the bar stools at my sisters house while I watch her cook. I hope one day my kids will be able to do the same with me.
Until I get that big kitchen I can look at this bar furniture and dream.

Look at all these cute bar stools you could use from AllBarstool.com.
AllBarstools.com is one of the many stores from CSN Stores. In a few weeks I will be hosting a cool giveaway from them so watch for it.

What would go in your dream kitchen?

I Love Cardigans

1) Wet Seal
2) Forever 21
3) Phase Eight
4) Dorothy Perkins
5) Laura Ashley
6) J Crew

Shirley J Review and Giveaway

A few weeks ago Shirley J sent me some of their Universal Sauce to try out. I had heard lots of good things about this cream based sauce and couldn't wait to try it!

My sister, Julie and I decided to experiment with a few recipes. We made Gnocchi Gratin, Alfredo Chicken Pizza and Creamy Baked Potato Soup. I couldn't believe how easy the sauce made the cooking.



Universal Sauce is a cream based sauce that serves as the foundation to countless recipes. All you have to do is add water. It was super easy to make and was completely lump free. We didn't have to worry about having flour, butter, milk, etc. on hand.

I wanted to learn more about the Universal Sauce so I took one of the free cooking classes at the Shirley J head quarters. It was such a great class and the chef was very fun and knowledgeable! He cooked chicken enchiladas, tomato soup and macaroni and cheese from the Universal Sauce in less than 45 minutes. They were all delicious.

I think the Universal Sauce will become a staple in my pantry and food storage. It's so easy to use and it's 1/4 the calories as a regular cream sauce. It also has a shelf life of 20+ years.

I can't wait to try out their other products!

You can buy Shirley J products on the Shirley J website, through an Executive Chef or in their store.

Shirley J
15 East 400 South
Orem, Utah

Monday through Friday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm





Shirley J is giving away a 48 oz bag on universal Sauce to one lucky reader!

How to enter

1 entry for commenting on this post
1 entry for becoming a follower of this blog
1 entry for following me on twitter
1 entry if you tweet about this giveaway including a link
1 entry for adding my blog button to your side bar
2 entries for posting about this giveaway on your blog

Leave a comment for each entry.

Giveaway ends Sunday, May 23rd at midnight
Winner will be announced Monday, May 24th

Good luck!

Stylin' Sunday

No Stylin' Sunday today, we went to a wedding instead.

Did you notice that Travis shaved? and got a hair cut?
I think he looks pretty dang cute!

Watch out for the giveaway tomorrow morning!

Takeout Book

For Mother's Day I made my mom a take out book. She loves her takeout!
It's full of menus from all sorts of restaurants and there is even small pockets for her to store her gift cards. Of course I had to include a gift card in the gift.

I liked it so much I am now making one for me.

What did you give your mom?

Recipe Roundup- Oreo Cookies

Oreo Cookies
By Julie from Julie's Food Love





1 box any flavor cake mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs

Place cake mix, oil and eggs in mixing bowl. Mix until well blended.
Drop by rounded teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
Cool 3 minutes on cookie sheet then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
The cookies are puffed and full when they first come out of the oven. While cooling they will flatten a bit.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

5-6 T. milk

Mix butter, cream cheese, vanilla together until smooth. Add powdered sugar and half of the milk and mix until smooth. Slowly add remaining milk until it is the desired consistency.

Recipe Roundup-Creamy Chicken and Dumplings

Creamy Chicken & Dumplings
From Amanda of Kevin & Amanda's Recipes



1 lb chicken breasts
10 bouillon cubes
2 quarts water
2 cups bisquick
2/3 cups milk
2 tbsp butter
4 eggs
2 stalks celery

Place chicken breasts & bouillon cubes in a large pot & cover with 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20-25 mins until chicken is done.

Meanwhile, boil the eggs. Then mix together the bisquick and milk until soft dough forms. When chicken is done, remove from pot and set aside. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the chicken stock. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 10 mins, then uncovered for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, dice 2-4 stalks of celery until you have approximately 1/2 - 1 cup of diced celery. Cut or shred chicken into bit sized pieces. Saute celery in 2 tbsp of butter for a couple of mins. Add in chicken & season well with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the chicken and celery to the soup. Remove yolk from boiled eggs and chop whites and add to soup. Stir all to combine. Serves 4.

Blogger's Recipe Roundup- Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet potato Pie
From Michelle of Three Men and a Lady

I got this recipe from my step mom. I made a photo copy of it and the top of the recipe card says, "From the kitchen of Denise Kurmey"...no idea who she is but want to give credit where credit is due.

This is by far the best Sweet Potato Pie ON EARTH. I thought sweet potato pie with melted marshmallows was good. This recipe trumps those by a long stretch.

3 C Cooked, mashed sweet potatoes or yams

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C milk

1/3 C melted margarine

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs beaten

Combine all ingredients, mix well, spoon into a greased, 8" baking dish.

Topping:

1 C flaked coconut

1 C brown sugar, firmly packed

1/3 C flour

1/3 C melted margarine

1 C chopped pecans

Mix together well, sprinkle over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 min. or until golden brown.